SAN FRANCISCO – The Santa Clara Broncos have had the Dons' number of late. In fact, the Broncos had taken nine straight victories in contests against San Francisco. But Saturday stopped the streak.

The Dons cruised to a 62-45 victory at War Memorial Gym to move to 11-7 on the year, and 2-5 in West Coast Conference play after back-to-back wins against league opponents. For the Broncos, the loss moves the squad to 6-10 (1-6 WCC) on the season.

USF was again paced in scoring by Taylor Proctor. The junior from Colorado Springs had a chilly outing from the floor, but her 13-of-15 effort from the line led to a game-high 24 points to go along with nine rebounds. Freshman guard Anna Seilund made her first start and continued to make her mark on conference foes. She finished the afternoon with 12 points and three assists, and scooped up five steals.

"We kind of know the behind-the-scenes with Anna," head coach Jennifer Azzi said after the game. "She has been progressing throughout the course of the season. With Taj being out and Rachel being out and Tiara now out, just for her to have the confidence to come in and start and just play. Play basketball – play so well, and play so hard. She's the type of player that you love to coach because she plays hard every second that she's out there."
 Along with the stellar play from the first-year player from Copenhagen, Denmark, the shining star on the court was the USF defense. The Dons forced Santa Clara into 25 turnovers, which resulted in 23 USF points. Nici Gilday, the WCC's leading scorer entering the contest, was held to just nine points on 3-of-13 shooting, 11 points under her season average. The Broncos shot 32.1 percent from the field and just 3-for-17 from long distance with each of their triples coming in the first four minutes of the afternoon.

"Nici is always a threat on the three-point line," Seilund said of her opponent. "She's a really good player and she has a really, really fast three-point release when she shoots the ball and we've been focusing a lot on making her dribble and always knowing where she is on the floor. I think being able to put almost anyone on her – switching me, Z, Aundrea – I think the way that we can all be able to guard a player like her is why we're such a smart team and we're a really deep team."

The game opened in much the same fashion as most games for the Green and Gold this season, with Paige Spietz winning the opening tip for the Dons. The first seven minutes of action was a battle and Vanessa Leo's three-point play gave the Broncos a 14-11 lead with 15:03 on the clock. USF's Paige Spietz started a 10-point run for the Dons as the home team build a seven point advantage with 10:28 remaining in the period.

Finding themselves in the bonus early in the half, the Dons exploited their advantage by earning 19 trips to the line in the first 20 minutes. By the break, USF built up a 33-23 lead. But the Dons started on a lull out of halftime, going 0-for-11 from the floor in the opening six minutes of the period. Luckily in that same span which saw the Dons shooting 9 percent, Santa Clara was only marginally better at 18 percent, or 2-for-11.

A layup by Seilund broke the scoring drought and the Dons led 36-23 with 12:44 to play.  Santa Clara sliced the lead to nine after Morgan McGwire's shot fell through with 4:58 to play, but Proctor put the next five points in the USF score column to again widen the gap. The Dons eventually went on to win 62-45 and hand the Broncos their first loss in the series since 2010, and the first USF win over Santa Clara in the Jennifer Azzi era.

"Certainly, there has always been a great rivalry between San Francisco and Santa Clara and they're a great defensive team, and I have a ton of respect for what they're doing and the program," Azzi noted. "I think any win in the WCC is great because the conference from head to toe is so strong. Santa Clara has been in tight games with the best teams in the conference too. It's definitely going to be a battle for the rest of the season."

Next on the docket, USF travels to Malibu, meeting up with Pepperdine Thursday at 7 p.m.